Culvert.



No. 777,714. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

' 0. W. CARTER.

CULVERT.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 9, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

i. CHABLE5- X BY 9W 'UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

CHARLES W. CARTER, OF ST. JOHNS, MICHIGAN.

CULVERT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,714, dated December20, 1904.

Application filed June 9, 1904:. Serial N0. 211,776.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES WV. CARTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Johns, in the county of Clinton and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Culverts, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in drainage-tubes,especially designed for tubes used for culverts, sluices, &c.; and itconsists in the construction of the tubes made in semicylindricalsections with means for interlocking the sections at their horizontaledges and at the ends and, further, in the construction, arrangement,and combination of the various parts, as more fully hereinafterdescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a culvert embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of two of the end sectionsthereof, showing the upper and' lower halves slightly separated toillustrate their construction. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 00 w ofFig. 1. the culvert as shown in Fig. 1, but of slightlymodifledconstruction of flange on the horizontal edges. Fig. 5 is an elevationsimilar to Fig. 4 of the upper and lower half of the end section of theconstruction shown in Fig. A slightly separated to illustrate theconstruction of the parts. Fig. 6 is a vertical section on line y y ofFig. 5.

In the manufacture of culverts, especially for country roads, it isdesirable to make the same in sections, so that they may be easilyhandled, and in putting them together it is desirable to break thejoints, so as to have as little leakage as possible at any one point inthe length of the culvert. by making my culvert in semicylindricalsections and provide end sections of different lengths. The intermediatesections can, if

desired, be of uniform length, and in this way the meeting edges of theupper halves and the meeting edges of the lower halves will be out ofline or staggered. I also prefer to construct the sections withinterlocking flanges, so as to prevent the possibility of endwise Fig. 4is a side elevation of- I accomplish this movement of the upper portionin relation to the lower portion thereof.

Referring to the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, Arepresentsone section, and B a shorter section, each semicylindrical incrosssection and adapted when brought together to form a tube, as shownin Fig. 3. These sections I preferably provide also withstrengthening-ribs C. At the lower meeting edges of the two sections arethe horizontal ribs D D, which give a comparatively wide contacting facefor the two sections when laid one upon the other. Projectinginwardlyfrom the outer face of the horizontal flanges D D are the overlappingflanges E E, these flanges on two sections to be superimposed beingstaggered so that the flanges E will fit into the space between theflanges E, and vice versa, when the two parts are brought together. Atone end of each of the two sections are the semicircular fianges G andCr, these flanges extending out from the end ribs H and H. The oppositeends of the sections A and B are plain and are adapted to fltwithin theflanges G G of adjoining sections. The sections being thus constructed,they are assembled as shown in Fig. 1. In this case the sections A arelonger than the usual length of the intermediate sections and thesections B are of the length of the intermediate sections. Commencing atthe left hand end of Fig. 1, I have shown three of the short sections Band one long section A for the lower half of the culvert and a longsection A and three short sections B for the upper half thereof, andbeing so arranged it will be observed that the meeting ends of the upperseries and lower series form break-joints or are staggered. It will beobserved also that the flanges E E form a continuous overlap for the.horizontal joint between the upper and lower sections and also look theupper and lower sections against endwise movement unless they are firstvertically separated, as shown in Fig. 2.

I prefer the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 for the reason, asdescribed, that this interlocking construction of the flanges E Eprevents the endwise movement of the upper and lower portions of theculvert in relation to each other. I may, however, make the culvert asshown in Figs. L, 5, and 6,in which one of the sections, either theupper or the lower, preferably the upper, is provided with a continuousflange J, extending out from the horizontal rib D at the lower edge andin line with the end flange Gr, while the lower sec tion has acontinuous rib I) along its upper edge; but the sections are otherwiseconstructed as described for the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and3. In this construction there is no means except the friction of thesuperimposed parts to prevent the upper half of the culvert from slidinglongitudinally along the lower half, or vice versa.

It will be seen that I use long sections in the construction shown inFig. 1 upon the ends, the long section at one end being-at the bottomand the long section at the other end being at the top, and the otherend sections are short, so that in order to make a staggered joint inthe intermediate sections I make the diagonally opposite end sections oflike length, while the upper and lower sections at each end are ofdifferent length. These culvert-sections are preferably made ofcast-iron, but may be made of cement, clay, or any other material that Ifind to be convenient or desirab e.

While I have described the construction as semicylindrical, it isobvious that other suitable cross-section may be employed so long as theupper and lower halves form complementary portions of the tube.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A culvert-section adapted to formonehalf of a culvert in cross-section having depending from itshorizontal edges a series of separated flanges and a complementarysection having projecting upwardly from its horizontal edgescomplementary interlocking flanges.

2. A culvert comprising a series of top and bottom sections each shapedto form a half in cross-section of the same, horizontal ribs along themeeting edges of the top and bottom sections, transverse ribs around theouter face of the both sections merging into the horizontal ribs,flanges 0n the sections overlapping the horizontal joint, end ribs atboth ends of the sections, and overlapping flanges extending out fromone side of the end ribs and overlapping the circumferential jointsbetween the adjoining sections.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES W. CARTER.

Witnesses:

H. C. SMITH, J AS. P. BARRY.

